What we did in Uluwatu

My internal alarm clock went off and I was wide awake 2 hours before the sun would come up. I wish I was more of an early bird usually. I used those hours to catch up on my travel journal – I’ve been slacking on it.

Scootered over to Padang Padang Beach to check out the Impossibles surf break. It was barely 7am and there were at least 15 people out already. An hour and 2 other surf spots later, we stopped for breakfast at Cempaka Cafe.

We had the whole day ahead of us, but we needed to see one more break – Bingin beach. It looked big everywhere. Ian concentrated on the waves and I fell asleep on the beach. About 2 hours later, I was burnt out. I needed to move around.

We refueled our scooter and checked out Nyang Nyang beach. Our taxi driver told us it was a sweet spot but after having to pay a toll to enter and discovering halfway that we would have to descend a quarter mile on slippery limestone to the unshaded beach, we realized we were getting hot and hangry.

So we doubled back to Padang Padang beach, where we passed through a temple with macaques running around everywhere, and walked through a corridor in the 200-foot cliffs. It was high noon and the beach was packed. I’m still in a state of culture shock over the density of tourists here! We strategically placed our things next to a big group of suntanning“bule” or white foreigners (lol), and cooled off in the cool Indian Ocean. Ian also got chicken satay skewers from a tiny beach vendor, and we couldn’t help but buy souvenirs to remind us of this place.

After the beach we stopped by Dedari Theory, a treetop bar which caught my eye when we zipped by earlier.

It had the chillest vibes, and we were the only ones there! How can this be?! Such a sweet little spot.

Got to the cabin and jumped in the pool right away for the next hour or so.

The sun was about to go down, and Ian and I rushed to the Uluwatu Temple. Again, there were macaques everywhere. I’m honestly scared of them – whenever they would look at me, I’d look away and pretend I was minding my own business. They definitely look mischievous.

We hoped to catch the Kecak Fire Dance but by the time we got there, it was sold out. There were a LOT of people there, so we sat around for a bit and all watched the clouds lose their luminance and the sun fall behind the horizon.

But the night was not over yet!

We zipped off to Padang Padang again for some amazzzzzing yellowfin and salmon poke bowls at Coco & Poké, and dancing at the famous Single Fin bar. The scene was bustling. Surfers and non-surfers, bloggers, business people, drifters, young and old travelers of every age and nationality. Just dancing to some funky tunes. We got home before midnight to rest our tired bones.